Housing Counseling Process Evaluation and Design of ... - HUD User

agency, about two-thirds remained in their current housing and one-third had found
alternative housing or received housing search assistance.
• Approximately 49,000 clients sought counseling on shelter or services for the homeless.
Most completed counseling, but about half of those that completed counseling remained
homeless at least as of the time the agency last knew of their housing status. Of the
remaining clients that completed counseling, about half obtained permanent housing and
half were referred to another agency for assistance.
A much richer description of client outcomes will be possible once HUD’s Agency Reporting Module
(ARM) is operational and counseling agencies are using client management systems (CMS) to gather
and report information on client characteristics and outcomes at the client level. While the use of
CMS holds much promise for improving the efficiency of counseling agency operations, the industry
is still in the initial phases of adopting these systems.
What are the characteristics of housing counselors and what challenges do agencies face
related to staffing?
Interviews with intermediaries and SHFAs suggest that a key determinant of the quality of counseling
services is the qualifications and abilities of the counselor. Prior to this study, no systematic
information existed on the education levels, years of experience, or qualifications of housing
counselors industry-wide.
The study found that a majority of housing counselors at HUD-approved agencies are college
educated—with 65 percent holding a two- or four-year college degree and another 25 percent having
attended some college. In addition, most counselors have several years of counseling experience,
with an average of 8 years of experience across all counselors. Most counselors also have formal
training in the housing counseling field, most often from NeighborWorks® America but also from
HUD, state agencies, financial institutions, and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, a
housing counseling intermediary.
Most intermediaries require their affiliates to provide counselors with formal training in housing
counseling within a year of when they begin counseling, but requirements vary substantially. SHFAs
interviewed are somewhat less likely than intermediaries to require formal training or certifications
for counselors in their network.
The agency survey results indicate that the level of expertise or training of staff is a significant
problem for about two-thirds of HUD-approved agencies. Comments on the survey suggest that
agency concerns about staff expertise and training center around the cost of training and access to
training. In addition, about one third of the agencies surveyed identified staff retention as an
extremely or moderately significant problem. Staff retention is a more common problem for agencies
serving more than 5,000 clients per year. Agency comments on the survey suggest that the biggest
concern is agencies’ inability to compensate trained and experienced staff sufficiently.
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